Firewall

The just-released World Happiness Report places the United States 24th globally. That's the bad news. The good news is that a big part of our problem is based on a fixable misperception that we have about each other. Bradley outlines a new regimen of building better vibes. Plus, he explains why Trump is shredding our system of checks and balances so easily (because it's actually reliant on norms, which Trump does not observe), how Trump's rejection of good politics should eventually sap his momentum, and what Bradley learned from reading Graydon Carter's memoir, When the Going Was Good.LIVE EVENT: Join Bradley for a live Firewall recording at P&T Knitwear on Wednesday, April 2 and 6:30PM. After his discussion with Spencer Greenberg, host of the Clearer Thinking podcast, Bradley will answer audience questions on-air. Space is limited. RSVP today: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/clearer-thinking-x-firewall-a-live-podcast-recording-tickets-1261541337099?aff=oddtdtcreatorThis episode was taped at P&T Knitwear at 180 Orchard Street — New York City’s only free podcast recording studio.Send us an email with your thoughts on today’s episode: info@firewall.media.Subscribe to Bradley's weekly newsletter, follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube, be sure to order his new book, Vote With Your Phone. 

In this first installment of The Race to Gracie Mansion — a series of interviews with New York City mayoral hopefuls, co-produced by Firewall and City & State — Jessica Ramos, State Senator from Queens, lays out her vision for a more equitable, better-run city. She takes on police deployment, fair fares, Cuomo’s comeback, and why she'll never promise childhood friends a job in her administration. This episode was taped at P&T Knitwear at 180 Orchard Street — New York City’s only free podcast recording studio.Send us an email with your thoughts on today’s episode: info@firewall.media.Subscribe to Bradley's weekly newsletter, follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube, be sure to order his latest book Vote With Your Phone. ++LIVE SHOW: Join Bradley for a live Firewall recording at P&T Knitwear on Wednesday, April 2 at 6:30PM. After his discussion with Spencer Greenberg, host of the Clearer Thinking podcast, Bradley will answer audience questions on-air. Space is limited. RSVP today: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/clearer-thinking-x-firewall-a-live-podcast-recording-tickets-1261541337099

Bradley offers a framework for thinking about how government at all levels should approach AI in terms of regulating it, deploying it and dealing with its ramifications. It doesn't have to be like DOGE, he argues, but there are definitely things we can learn from Elon. "The point of government," he says, "is to serve the collective needs of the people, not to employ a workforce of people."This episode was taped at P&T Knitwear at 180 Orchard Street — New York City’s only free podcast recording studio.Send us an email with your thoughts on today’s episode: info@firewall.media.Subscribe to Bradley's weekly newsletter, follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube, be sure to order his new book, Vote With Your Phone. 

What makes the politics surrounding transportation so murky and insidious? Nicole Gelinas, author of Movement: New York's Long War to Take Back Its Streets from the Car, a Gotham Book Prize nominee, talks to Bradley about the hidden forces keeping mass transit in check, how environmental regulations are used as a scapegoat and why Amazon deliveries are killing the streets. Plus, she weighs in on Andrew Cuomo’s mayoral run and whether New Yorkers will trade scandal for competence.

In word, no — not when it comes to the government, anyway. Bradley reviews the careful balance you need to strike when working in areas outside your expertise. Plus, he mulls over whether getting Western Europe to bulk up its armed forces will make the world safer, how Chuck Schumer's self interest and the national interest coincided on his vote for the continuing resolution on the budget and (because we needed to lift the mood) what makes a great cover version of a pop song.LIVE SHOW: Join Bradley for a live Firewall recording at P&T Knitwear on Wednesday, April 2 at 6:30PM. After his discussion with Spencer Greenberg, host of the Clearer Thinking podcast, Bradley will answer audience questions on-air. Space is limited. RSVP today: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/clearer-thinking-x-firewall-a-live-podcast-recording-tickets-1261541337099This episode was taped at P&T Knitwear at 180 Orchard Street — New York City’s only free podcast recording studio.Send us an email with your thoughts on today’s episode: info@firewall.media.Subscribe to Bradley's weekly newsletter, follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube, be sure to order his new book, Vote With Your Phone. 

A new poll reveals what New Yorkers really think about the state of the city—and the results might surprise you.Kicking off the Race to Gracie Mansion series, Bradley and guest co-host Tom Allon (City & State Publisher) break down the largest study of NYC voters in years with the people behind it: John Della Volpe (Founder & CEO, SocialSphere) and Jamie Rubin (Board Chair, NYCHA). As the 2025 mayoral race heats up, they take a closer look into what New Yorkers are actually saying about crime, affordability, quality of life, and more—and what it all means for the city's future.Subscribe to Firewall to catch every episode of The Road to Gracie Mansion, where we sit down with the leading mayoral candidates and cut through the noise. First episode drops March 27.Chapters:00:01:41 - Why Commission This Poll?00:03:08 - Key Findings: What New Yorkers Are Saying00:04:34 - What Makes This Poll Different?00:06:04 - Pessimism in NYC: A Return to the '80s?00:07:36 - Is NYC Part of a National Trend?00:09:14 - The Mayoral Race: Breaking Down Voter Segments00:12:27 - The Progressive Divide00:15:24 - Eric Adams: Does He Have a Path to Re-Election?00:17:27 - Cuomo’s Lead in the Polls00:22:22 - Who Can Win? Evaluating Other Candidates00:28:20 - Crime, Public Safety, and Perceptions vs. Reality00:37:43 - NYC's Public Transit & Congestion Pricing00:41:20 - Involuntary Confinement for Mentally Ill: Strong Support00:44:33 - Migrant Crisis: Public Attitudes00:48:07 - Housing Crisis & NYCHA Redevelopment00:52:53 - Closing Thoughts & Where to Find More on the PollThe Landmark Study Reveals NYC Voters' Deep Concerns About City's Direction Ahead of 2025 Mayoral Election: https://www.jamesrubin.com/nyc-opinion-surveyThis episode was taped at P&T Knitwear at 180 Orchard Street — New York City’s only free podcast recording studio.Send us an email with your thoughts on today’s episode: info@firewall.media.Subscribe to Bradley's weekly newsletter, follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube, be sure to order his new book, Vote With Your Phone. 

The advice for how Columbia University should respond to Trump's slashing of funds is the same for anybody facing adversity — start by knowing your own values. Without that, argues Bradley, no strategy or tactics, however brilliant, are going to work. Plus he explains why "Trump is like the Terminator, he comes back stronger," weighs his own skills as a probabilistic thinker, and reveals why he never ever carries anything with him. That's just who he is.This episode was taped at P&T Knitwear at 180 Orchard Street — New York City’s only free podcast recording studio.Send us an email with your thoughts on today’s episode: info@firewall.media.Subscribe to Bradley's weekly newsletter, follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube, be sure to order his new book, Vote With Your Phone. 

Columbia Business School professor Michael Morris, author of Tribal: How the Cultural Instincts That Divide Us Can Help Bring Us Together, joins Bradley to break down the psychology behind how humans organize into groups, why we’re wired to trust and follow, and how these instincts shape everything we do, especially politics. "People aren’t just voting for policies," Morris says, "they’re choosing a tribe, a social identity. That’s why facts alone don’t change minds."This episode was taped at P&T Knitwear at 180 Orchard Street — New York City’s only free podcast recording studio.Send us an email with your thoughts on today’s episode: info@firewall.media.Subscribe to Bradley's weekly newsletter, follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube, be sure to order his new book, Vote With Your Phone. 

Sitting in a long Bar Mitzvah service, Bradley started wondering about the performative side of religion. If we believe in a God who is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent, what does God need with all this endless praise? Kinda reminds you of someone else, doesn't it? Plus, Bradley unloads on the cruelty of Trump and Musk's proposed budget cuts and analyzes whether a big drop in popularity can stop Trump this time. Finally, now that the Andrew Cuomo redemption tour is officially on, why is his frontrunner status different than Andrew Yang's four year ago? This episode was taped at P&T Knitwear at 180 Orchard Street — New York City’s only free podcast recording studio.Send us an email with your thoughts on today’s episode: info@firewall.media.Subscribe to Bradley's weekly newsletter, follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube, be sure to order his new book, Vote With Your Phone.

Raj Goyle argues that Democrats don’t need a radical agenda to beat Trump—they just need to prove they can solve everyday problems. The founder of Phone Free New York joins Bradley to talk about the fight to ban phones in schools, how the legal system quietly robs every American, and why campaigns should be run like startups—fast, lean, and ruthless.This episode was taped at P&T Knitwear at 180 Orchard Street — New York City’s only free podcast recording studio.Send us an email with your thoughts on today’s episode: info@firewall.media.Subscribe to Bradley's weekly newsletter, follow Bradley on Linkedin + Substack + YouTube, be sure to order his new book, Vote With Your Phone.